City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening. The regular council meeting for the city of Coppers Cove, Texas, held uh April 21st, 2026. Called to order at 6:23 p.m. Please rise for the invocation by Brian Havl, followed by the pledge of allegiance. Please join me in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this evening. We thank you for your love, grace, and mercy upon each of our lives and our city and our community. Heavenly Father, I pray that you guide this governing body and the decisions that they make for our entire community. That your hand is upon us, protecting us, keeping us safe, helping us to provide service to all of our residents, guiding and directing them, those that are on the street and those that are in the office providing those services. I pray heavenly father you give this governing body wisdom in their decisions that you protect our community, our state and our country. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Amen. Please join me. Pledge our nation's flag. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. To the state flagis,

please be seated.

Madam Secretary, please call the role. Mary Anie, here. Christina Strous here. Rita Hogan here. Howard Hawk here. John Hail. Dell Treadway here. Vana Hart. Jack Smith here. All right, a quorum is present. We move to item D, announcements. None for me, Mr. Mayor. None for me, sir. No, Mr. Mayor. Ryan.

Yes, sir. I have a few announcements. Uh this Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon. The solid waste transfer station will be having op extended operating hours on May 2nd at 8:30 a.m. uh Ogle Tree at Ogal Tree Gap is the Mayfest fund run uh sponsored by uh the exchange club. I don't remember which exchange club this is. Noon Exchange Club. Thank you, Kevin. Um and on May 9th, we have the Jack Rabbit Run also at Ogal Tree Gap. uh in the morning sponsored uh by the Chamber of Commerce. And then uh May 1st through the 2nd is Lemonade Day. Uh follow uh the activities on the city's Facebook page and their Facebook page uh for stand locations. Support our young entrepreneurs. Thank you.

Right. Thank you. Nothing, Mr. Mayor. No, no announcements. All right. We move to item E, citizens forum. At this time, citizens will be allowed to speak for a length of time not to exceed five minutes per person on any item which is listed on the agenda and items not listed on the agenda. 30 minutes total has been allotted for this section. Pursuant to section 551.042 of the Texas Open Meetings Act, any deliberation or decision about the subject of inquiry, which is not listed on the agenda, shall be limited to a proposal to place a subject on the agenda for a subsequent meeting. All right. Anyone to speak during citizens forum?

George McMaster, 1101 Magnolia Avenue. Ladies and gentlemen, what message does the city wish to give to the public by to the public by closing comments on the city's Facebook page? Yes, I can see your point. Maybe it makes sense from a policy viewpoint. However, from a public viewpoint, it brings ridicule similar to the ridicule the city of Harker Heights received when it did the same a few months ago brings a very uncharitable argument against the city and its public servants that shouldn't be made. The argument is being made, not by me. However, I have the unfortunate duty to say that argument out loud. By turning off comments, the city is unintentionally giving the message that it does not listen to the general public. Yes, I am very well aware social media can be an absolute cesspit. I know. I've seen it. However, social media can be used as a tool for public participation. As unbelievable as it sounds, really, not everyone shows up to these meetings. Not everyone checks the city website. The pa the Facebook page, even if it features shooting the messenger, the game when something major happens. I'm not saying which but we all know what what happens sometimes can provides a vehicle for people to go further in public participation than just social media interactions. I am an example where social media has led to my in person participation. Ask Mr. Keller. Shutting down this method of public participation doesn't help convince the general public the city hears their concerns. Yes, I could email my public servants. I could attend council meetings in person. I can and I have engaged in those methods when my list of priorities allows for in-person participation or crafting very lengthy emails. My list of priorities are my daughter, my wife, my family, my job. And then unfortunately down here, public

participation is kind of over there. But when it matters, I do attend. Unfortunately, as a reason, even if I were to take my concerns to a council meeting, particularly in matters where this chamber were was packed to the walls, there have been plenty of those. I have I have come away with the idea I just wasted my time. Nothing against y'all personally. You are all honorable public servants and I will die on that hill. I am just one resident. But if the viewpoint that nobody listens spreads becomes contagious in this community, nothing there's nothing but trouble that will happen. We all have a lot to lose if residents feel like their voices and concerns are just going to fall on deaf ears and it's and the city's public servants have to combat said perception with one hand tied behind their backs. Basically, if one side doesn't feel like it's going to be heard and the other side feels like it can't be heard, they're trying. But then there's this wall, this barrier here that you can't penetrate. We're both losing. There's no communication. And that's unfortunately a perspective that I wish I didn't come AC away with sometimes, but even I have it. Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to start to combat the perspective that you guys that the city does not listen to the general public, please start by striking the no comments policy on the city's Facebook page. Do the benefits outweigh the negatives when it comes to the policy? Does it? Please consider that. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else to speak during citizens forum,

Mr. Mayor, Council? Uh, Ray Payne, 604 North 17th Street. Uh, as per usual, I don't have something as eloquent as George does. I didn't write anything down. This is just going to be everything from the hip. Uh, the turning off the comments on the Facebook page. Uh, I get it. Uh, it's a, again, like he said, a cesspool of of people commenting different things and conflicting information and just trashing the city in general from people that uh, don't have an investment and don't know the people that that could devote their time and commit their time to the city. Uh I I am opposed to turning off the comments because I think there is some value in having uh people who have reasonable uh opinions and have information that they can give to people who are asking questions even if those questions are ingest or if they're disingenuous. You can reach out to the people who are seeing those comments and reading those comments who uh may need access to that information. And just because the city uh has a policy not to respond to those people, uh you're cutting off the opportunity for somebody who has the answers to those questions to answer those people in a public uh setting. Uh I think that benefits out out or outweigh the disadvantages. Um the where was I going with that statement? Uh yeah, so I object I object to that unfortunately. Uh oh. Uh just kind of a suck it up, buttercup. I've been a a I'm a zenial. I've been on the internet for nearly 35 years. Uh you got to let that stuff roll off your back. Uh people are going to say some bad stuff when an anonymity is involved. So you kind of have to kind of take those lessons and say, uh I'm getting a handful of responses from people that have decided that they want to be negative, but the majority of people I feel are inherently good and they want to get the information that they have. So that's my opinion on that. Uh the second subject I have is the state of the city. I'm objecting to a passive state of the city where you record something and put it

out there. Uh even if it's in a forum like this because look at the attendance here. I'm not saying that this isn't a good enough amount of number for the the city of Copper Scope for a council meeting, but you said the number was 86 people and someone suggested that I would love to see 500. you got 86 people in that same room who are uh focused on the betterment of Copper Cove and want to be involved in that. I think compared to a meeting that's held every two weeks where you have this kind of a turnout where you have one a year and 86 people show up to hear a specific message. I think that's something worth uh having um would a town hall um forum where you have the uh state of the city in in a workshop and then you have the town halls uh separate would they be in an open forum where people are just talking back and forth with the council members? I think there's benefits and disadvantages to that. Uh, you could have people come up there and say, uh, hey, why are they killing the cats in in South Park and with the trees and stuff like that, you can derail the situation where in a situation where you have the state of the city, you can have questions that are pre-assed. Uh, when people show up like I do and like some other people do, they show up, they write down a question, and then you guys eloquently answer that question with some really good information. Uh, I think in a controlled setting like that, it's necessary so that you can get good questions and good answers in those types of situations. uh with doing a separate town hall uh having the departments there are you and and having it in as an hour and a half are you allowing enough time for people to to do the town hall Q&A and also visit those departments that are going to be there um because I think it's important for those departments to be in those uh in that setting so that they can engage with with the public and giving them enough time and I'm not sure if it's it would be worth it to say this isn't just a town hall this is a time for you to go to each department and maybe like we had at the uh the citizens leadership academy where maybe those departments come up and say, "Hey, this is who we are. This is what we do." Obviously, a much briefer type of overcap, but saying, "Hey, I'm the lead of that. This

is my contact information. If you have a question specifically for me, please reach out to us and then have them sit down, have the next one come up." I think that would be a benefit as well. So, thank you. Thank you.

Anyone else to speak during citizens forum? James Pierce, 3201 Emily Circle. Um, I want to talk about the the Facebook turning off the comments. Uh, Mr. McMaster did a really good job on his comments. I appreciate that. Um, you know, with um, as you heard one time, with great power comes great responsibility, and all seven of y'all are elected to represent us. And if you can't really handle the comments projected toward you, you need to step down. Um, I mean, I'm not telling y'all that. I'm just saying that is part of being elected. I've been elected. Y'all know that. I've been elected to two different positions. And I understand that sometimes you're going to get you're going to get it really hard towards you and you're going to get so fed up. But that part of being in an elected position is to absorb it and to do what's right. Um, about turning off those comments before I came up here. I went on the Facebook. I checked Shelby Slawson's official page. You can comment on that. I went to Pete Flores's Senator Pete Flores's page. You can comment on that one also. Um, if our representatives can take Facebook comments, our city should be in that capacity also. All right. Um, that I just wanted to tell y'all that because I appreciate all of y'all, every one of y'all, and y'all do a really good job for us, but you need to keep that two-way communication going and not cut it off. All right.

All right. Excuse me. Anyone else to speak during citizens forum? All right, we will close that portion and move on to item F, consent agenda.

All matters listed under this item are considered to be routine by the city council and will be enacted by one motion. There will not be separate discussion of these items. If discussion is desired, that item will be removed from the consent agenda and considered separately. Item one, consideration and action on approval of city council workshop meeting minutes for April 7th, 2026, Lisa Wilson, city secretary. Item two, consideration and action on approval of city council regular meeting minutes for April 7th, 2026, Lisa Wilson, city secretary. Item three, consideration and action on the 2026 adjustment to telecommunications rightway access line rates established by the public utility commission of Texas, Velia Key, Director of Financial Services. And item four, consideration and action on resolution number 2026-13 authorizing and supporting the city manager in the submission of a grant application and require required documents to the US Department of Justice justice office of justice programs Bureau of Justice Assistance for the Edward Burn Memorial Justice Assistant Grant FY2025 local solicitation program. Gabriel Cardona, police captain.

Right, council. Is there any item on the consent agenda you wish to pull and consider separately? Okay. If not, is there a motion to approve? Mr. Mayor, make a motion uh to approve consent items F1 through F4. A second. Motion made by Mr. Treadway, second by Mr. Smith. All those in favor say I. I. Any oppose? Motion carries. We move on to item G, public hearings and action.

A governmental body shall allow each member of the public who desires to address the body regarding an item on an agenda for an open meeting of the body to address the body regarding the item at the meeting before or during the body's consideration of the item. Item one, public hearing and action to approve ordinance number 2026-11 to amend the future land use plan map by Ace Renault of Michelin Associates, Inc. representing the property owner Jerry Touché from LD lowdensity residential to MD medium density residential land use for Coral County Property ID 118726 consisting of 0.1640 acre located at 209 Allen Street Coppers Cove, Texas. Bobby Lewis, development services director.

Right. The time is 638. We'll open up the public hearing. Mayor, council, on February 25th, 2026, staff received an application to amend the future land use plan map from LD, low density residential to MD, medium density residential land use. On March 3rd, 2026, staff held a development review committee meeting to discuss the request. On May 23rd, or excuse March 23rd, 2026, the planning and zoning commission voted 4 to2 to recommend approval to the city council. This request to amend the flat map to MD medium vincing residential will accommodate the applicant's desire to develop a duplex on the property. Staff finds us this request does satisfy the review requirements and criteria to support this amendment. With that, city staff and the planning and zoning commission recommend approval of ordinance number 2026-11 as requested. All right, council, you have questions for Mr. Lewis.

Uh, Mr. Lewis, was there any resident that had disapproval of that um project be done? Was there any resident that disagreed with that?

Uh, we did not receive um any residents in the area that um received had any concerns with it from the neighborhood. Uh there were two planning commissioners that didn't uh that had some issues with the duplex converting it to a single family from to a duplex. Um I will say that um Allen Street has a total of six duplexes on it right now and this would be the seventh. So this area is in is in a transition from single family to commercial and so the medium density residential uh works to help with that transition. Good. Anybody else? Did

also Mr. Lord, that was a discussion about sidewalks uh not being put on the back side of Allen Street. Yes. Julie Lane, correct? Right. And so what happened during the uh planning commission, they have the final authority on the variances to the subdivision ordinance. And so the planning commission did vote to approve a variance uh along the the rear of these properties along Judy Lane. Uh right now there are no sidewalks along Judy Lane and so um the planning commission thought that u having that variance was something that they could support and they did. Thank you.

Mr. Mayor, I do have one question reference to the parking the driveways and I know there was some discussion and whatever agreement was worked out. It will it support like a big vehicle parked in a big SUV or a pickup truck? Yes, it will. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions?

Anyone from the audience wish to speak on this public hearing matter? Good evening, mayor and council. Ac with Michelin Associates representing the the owner and the developer of this project. Uh we've reviewed this with them and we think that this falls in line with the 2020 comprehensive plan. One of the items in there that was spoken in the comprehensive plan was the the redevelopment of dilapidated structures and methods that that could be accomplished. And many of the methods included grants and city participation. I think in this instance we have an opportunity for developer with their own private funds to take a dilapidated structure and bring it up to a new structure and to improve the overall area. So I think that's a that's a a great win for the comprehensive plan in this area of taking this structure that's uninhabitable and using private funds and no no involvement of the city in the funding side of it that was spoken on the comprehensive plan to redevelop this area and to begin that effort. And I think one of one of the other comments I was made was regarding the existence of duplexes. There are duplexes south of this. There also a duplex that's not shown on the map directly adjacent on the street. If there's any additional questions, I'd be happy to answer those.

That piece of property has been vacant for a number of years. Correct. I don't have the knowledge of exactly how long, but look, you know, banking site visits and seeing that structure, I don't believe that it's been inhabited for a considerable amount of time. Okay. Anybody else? Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Ace. Anyone Anyone else to speak on this public hearing matter? All right. The time is 6:43. We will close the public hearing. Is there action to be taken on this item, Mr. Mayor? Yes. I'd like to make a motion that we approve ordinance number 2026-11 as requested.

Second. Motion made by Mr. Smith, second by Mr. Treadway. Any other discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor say I. I. Any oppose? Okay. Motion carries. We move to public hearing item G2.

Public hearing and action to approve ordinance number 2026-12 to reszone property by Ace. Renault of Mitchellin Associates, Inc. representing the property owner Jerry Touché from LR lowdensity residential district to MR medium density residential district for Coral County property ID 118726 consisting of 0.1640 acre located at 209 Allen Street Coers Cove Texas Bobby Lewis development services director the time is 6:44 will open the public hearing

mayor and council on February 25th 2026 staff received an application to reszone the property from LR R low density residential to MR medium density residential district. On March 3rd, 2026, staff held a development review committee meeting to discuss the request. On March 23rd, 2026, the planning and zoning commission voted 4 to2 to recommend approval to city council. City staff and the planning and zoning commission recommend a change of zone to Mr. Residential District. Um the district is intended to complement the suburban districts and the infill areas of the oldest part of the city serving as a transitional use between commercial and single family residential uses. With that, city staff and the planning and zoning commission recommend approval of ordinance number 2026-12 as requested.

Right. Council, any questions for Mr. Lewis? Okay. Anyone from the audience wish to speak on this public hearing matter? Yes.

George McMaster 11 Magnolia Avenue. I approve of both, but I just like to throw in a comment. Um, yes, I know that there is a plan going on for this um improvement project on Allen Street and Juliet Lane. That's not the problem or it's not a problem. It's just not my not a concern to me. It's just I'd like to see more develop positive developments in our oldest part of the city so we can have more positive situ. Um perhaps in the future we could consider reszoning that whole street if it's feasible. I don't know how feasible it is. I don't unfortunately I don't attend PNZ meetings as much as I could. Just an idea.

Okay. Anyone else to speak? Public hearing. All right. The time is 6:46. We'll close the public hearing. Is there is there action be taken on this public hearing item?

Mr. Mayor. Yes. I'd like to make a motion that we approve ordinance number 2026-12 as requested. Second motion made by Mr. Smith, second by Mr. Treadway. This side's ahead of you guys over there. Okay. Uh, any other questions? Right. Hearing none. All those in favor say I. I. Any oppose? Motion carries. Thank you, Bobby. You're welcome. Thank you. See, we move to item H1, action items.

Consideration and action on the appointment of members to the capital improvements advisory committee to review and make recommendations to the city council for the implementation of impact fees. Bobby Lewis, development services director.

Mayor and council, on March 3rd, 2026, city council adopted resolution 2026-9 establishing the capital improvements advisory committee. This advisory committee consisting of eight members and officials is to review and make recommendations city council pertaining to the implementation of impact fees on new development for public infrastructure. In an effort to obtain qualified applicants, a vacancy announcement was released to the media and staff received four applications for consideration and appointment. Staff recommends city council review the applications for appointment to the capital improvements advisory committee and take action to fill four qualified vacancies. Right, council? Any questions for Mr. Lewis?

Mr. Mayor, I do got one question. Uh, it says the membership of the CIA must include a representative from the ETJ. So, I'm assuming one of these live at the ETJ. That's correct. Thank you. Have we received any residence applications to be on this committee?

Um um I know that there of the four applicants uh I believe three are city residents. There's one that's in the ETJ or I accidentally sent that back. There's two in the city. U there's one outside of the city and one in the APJ. I'm sorry. Yeah. Did that answer your question? Yes. Okay. Any other questions? Okay. Is there a motion to be made on these four applicants?

Mr. Mayor. Sure. I get to speak tonight because she's gone. Just kidding. I'd like to make a motion that we approve Wesley Atinson, James Clark II, Curtis J. Manning, and Travis Widis as members of the capital improvements advisory committee. Second. Motion made by Mr. Smith, seconded by Mr. Treadway. Any other questions, comments? All right, hearing none. All those in favor say I. I. Any oppose? Motion carries. We move to item H2.

Discussion and action on city council committee assignment changes. Dandy. Mayor. Mayor, if I may.

Yes. Go ahead. City Council, the item uh that is before you includes an addition for city council committee assignments, which is the Central Texas Water Alliance. If you'll recall, you approved during our special meeting in March the submission of an application by approving a resolution for membership to CTWA. Uh Mr. Osburn uh presented our application and the board approved our application on April 9th as a member of the board. Uh with that being said, uh city council needs to provide an appointment to the board and uh with uh tonight's action, you would provide that appointment as well as an alternate on the document. uh we still need to publish the board's order which states that they have approved us as a member uh to the CTWA board and then we also have to provide or pay the uh application and member fee which uh we have worked into the budget as well. So uh with that being said uh the mayor has a recommendation uh for you in the attached uh assignment. We the Central Texas Water Alliance, I think one of the people on this council that's done the most work, been involved in it by far more than anybody else is Dale Treadway and would like to uh bring his name for approval.

I agree. I don't think we have to vote. Uh yes, sir. You need to take action. Okay. Uh action on this and approve it. includes the alternate of Scott Osbborne uh in the uh absence of Mr. Treadway. So, we just make a motion for both of those. Mr. Mayor, I make a motion that we nominate Dale Treadway for the Central Texas Water Board with Scott Osborne as the second. I second. Motion made by Mr. Hogan, second by Mr. Paul. Yes, sir. All right. Good for the right side. They'll

Okay. Any other discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor say I. I. Any oppose? The motion carries. Congratulations, sir. Thank you. We move to item I, reports from staff, outside entities, advisory committees, and boards.

Item one, activity report from the Coppers Cove Historical Society. Kelly Rios, president of the Coppers Cove Historical Society. Good evening everyone. Um, I'm just going to read I went through and addressed a lot of the issues that we neglected to follow through with in the lease agreement over the last year. So, I I wrote this up addressing those items.

Um, Okay. So, B.1C, inspect the premises with the landlord and prioritize the repairs, restorations, and improvements. The required inspection was not completed. Um, while it may have been overlooked, we recognize the importance of the step. We have obtained two bids and intend to collaborate with the city and contractors to determine restoration priorities. Before finalizing a bid, we would like to review them with you and discuss any recommended revisions. We are especially mindful of preserving the history integrity of the property by using materials consistent with the original period. uh B1D, prepare and submit an inventory list of all personal property located within the building. An initial inventory list was created which was provided to Jeff Stoddard. Most of the miscellaneous items were disposed of with his approval. I did submit an inventory list that included all the furniture and everything that was in the house when we took it took over. Uh, let's see. B1E, maintenance of condition. Over the past year, we have made significant efforts to maintain the property. Outside, we removed one dead tree, cleared weeds, trimmed hedges. Inside, we removed approved items, cleaned the floors, polished hardwood and furniture. We cleaned the brick surfaces on the fireplaces, and refreshed the kitchen cabinetry. We are also going to install window treatments to protect the furnishings and the floors from sun damage. Moving forward, we will implement a regular maintenance schedule, including monthly interior cleaning and routine

lawn care bi-weekly or as needed. Additional plans include removing more dead trees, ongoing landscaping and debris removal. B1F obtain and pay for all utility services. We have established electricity service with TXU and water and trash services are set up with the city of Coppers Cove utilities. Per our agreement with the city council, the historical society is responsible for all utilities except the water usage which is currently covered by the city. As a precaution, we ensure that power and water are turned off when leaving the property to prevent to prevent unauthorized use. uh B1H seek, write and manage grants to restore and improve the process. We initially had two individuals assisting with grant writing. However, one stepped away due to time constraints and the other has retired. I am currently seeking grant writing training to assume this responsibility. I've contacted the city of Colleen, the Texas Historical Commission, and the Central Texas College, though no suitable courses are currently available.

Not yet. There you go. While I have explored online options, I prefer guidance that includes direct support. and that is I did find a course that we could I could take online, but I'm not able to talk to anybody and they are based out of Canada. So, that was the only affordable one and I I chose not to go with that route. In the meantime, we are actively pursuing fundraising efforts attached. I did present a I give a flyer turn that in for our upcoming annual first annual garden tea party along with the schedule of events for the remainder of the year. We are also launching a corporate sponsorship campaign for the Allen House restoration and participating in community and chamber of commerce events to increase membership and community engagement. I hope that this provides a clear update on our progress and direction. Please let let us know if you have any questions.

Council, you have any questions? Mr. Mayor, I just got a few comments. I just want to say thank you'all for what you're doing. I just ask you to continue working with the city so we move along with this process. Uh thank for, you know, cleaning the building up, keeping the grounds and uh the spaghetti dinner y'all had a couple weeks ago. I tell the high school culinary arts department the food was good. Thank you. Anyone else,

Ryan? Uh thank you, Mr. Rios. appreciate the report to council. So, we we met with Miss Rios and historical society members a few weeks ago. We kind of reviewed the lease agreement um in terms of uh understanding what that agreement is. They they understand it and there there was no ill intent for not providing a report to you, mayor and council. Um and this is a partnership and so we're going to continue working through this process together. Uh in terms of uh the water, um that is something that will need to come back to city council uh because the decision that city council made was to uh wave that cost uh until the anniversary of the agreement which was in February. Council still needs to make a decision decision on whether to continue to wave that water cost for the historical society. And so I will work with them to make sure that they're available for that future discussion and that will be back before council.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Kelly. All right. We move to item two, city's manager report.

Okay. Mayor and Council, I'll go through this quickly as I normally do each time I I review these items. If you have questions, comments, any concerns about any of these items, just interrupt me, okay? It's not rude to me. You're my bosses. So, starting with capital projects animal control facility, we had a ribbon cutting. It was well attended. I thought it went very well. our residents, those who support our animal shelter, excuse me, our animal care facility, um have uh done a phenomenal job of uh really helping our team and our community provide care to those animals. Uh at that time, we had a uh relatively low number of animals uh in the shelter at that time. We also still have a little bit of work that still needs to be completed on that facility. As we have come to the end of this project, we have identified that not only did we complete the facility within the uh financial expectations of the council, but we completed it in such a way that there are still funds that are remaining in the general obligation bond, which means those funds can only be used for this facility. So, our team is working with the architect and our our team at animal control to identify uses for those funds that we removed out of the original project. So, if you'll recall, we did some value engineering of the project to bring this facility under or within the budgeted funds that we have. Now that we've got the facility, we're looking at what can we add back into the facility that we had to remove and cut out before. Senior

center facility is also open. Had a really phenomenal ribbon cutting and grand opening for that event. Unfortunately, the facility was closed recently due to a plumbing issue and it wasn't a construction plumbing issue. It was a user uh facility user issue. Uh, and so just as a reminder, this is citywide for our entire sewer wastewater collection system. Things that don't go in the drain should not be put in the drain. Unfortunately, it closed a facility, a brand new facility. Um, and those things also eventually if they do make it down the drain to the main, they end up in our wastewater treatment plants which still cause major significant issues and problems. So, paper towels, rags, cloth, you know, anything that doesn't go in the drain, don't put it down the drain. That includes grease and oils and stuff like that as well. So public announcement uh municipal court renovation uh that is going and moving forward uh well at this point uh we still have a few things remaining but our clerks are back in what they affectionately call the bullpen um but it's in their area to serve our residents customer service uh particularly the environment and the communication has improved greatly as a result of that the courtroom is done please mayor and counsel go visit the municipal court. It's a very modern municipal court uh compared to the a late 90s municipal court. So, um it this project has turned out well. Uh fire station 3 is done and we are operating out of that station. This is the last time I'll report on that item.

uh roadway projects. We continue to uh move forward with identifying uh the full priorities of those projects that will be done that we will start designing and then executing midyear this year uh with those funds that city council approved and our customers are paying. Uh public works projects, we have many many public works projects. Uh one project that uh I went and saw and we're eventually coming where we've crossed the halfway point on is the Ramblewood drainage project and we just had rain so it was a great time to go over there and see uh the benefit of that project it is already starting to show some of that benefit uh from what I saw uh parks and recreation projects projects we continue to move forward on those uh really our duck pond project is uh virtually done it looks great we have lots of people that are using it story testimony for that is we have some senior residents that uh have not had a place to walk without the sidewalk, you know, being un unlevel and creating a safety hazard for them. And so we have residents that are now walking at the duck pond enjoying the use of that trail that's out there. It's ADA compliant. Uh one resident is on a walker. They have not been out walking in a very long time and their spouse actually sent us a thank you note saying, "Hey, we appreciate this project because it's improving the life of not only me that that uh commenter, but their spouse as well." So, uh thank you mayor and council for supporting that project and to our team for accomplishing it. uh looking back at uh some of the city activities and events, uh let's talk about department operations. And the

first one you've already heard about during our public comment period, and that is city Facebook uh comments. Um and just to provide some clarity on that, uh the comments uh have been turned off for the city's main Facebook page. the other Facebook pages that we do have, which are the police department, parks and recreation, uh, library, fire department, those comments are still on and active. Uh, we did communicate, uh, with our city attorney to make sure we were in compliance with state law on this. And, uh, so we have turned those comments off. Just a quick explanation for you as mayor and council and for our residents. Uh most of the comments we received on the city's Facebook page uh were either not directly applicable or uh supportive or um uh related to the comment itself. So as an example, should we have posted and and we have posted many times uh on uh the city's Facebook page about KCCB events. KCCB has their own Facebook page. We've shared those posts on the city's Facebook page and the comments then are no longer related to that KCCB event but related to other activities of the city. Um and most of the responses were simply in trying to correct a lot of false information. Some of the comments that we would respond to then generated additional comments. Very consistently, our public relations team invites our residents to have conversations with us. And during those invites, the responses to actually have a one-on-one conversation

are almost non-existent. We have a great example of somebody who has engaged in those one-on-one conversations, and that's Mr. McMaster. uh and he already provided a public comment about Facebook comments on the city's page. Uh but Mr. McMaster is one of the very few people who's actually come to have a conversation about things that are posted. So, we have not excluded comments on all of the other Facebook pages, just on the city's main Facebook page, uh, as it consumed a significant amount of our public relations team time to address comments that were not applicable to, uh, comment or post that we have actually made on our page. So, um, if city council wants to have a further discussion on that, we can always have a further discussion on that. Um and um if city council has any questions about that, we can talk about that as well. Uh we are in the process of uh working on budget submissions and reviews internally. We have already had our uh city council retreat or guidance on the budget process. So we are moving forward with that. Uh just as a uh opener for you when when we start budget submissions we always start off with the deficit and we have presented that consistently over the time and then we work our way through a lot of those requests to refine that budget until we present a proposed budget. So but we are in that process right now. Um and uh this week we are meeting with the non city organizations and some of the other city departments. Central Texas Water Alliance. Uh we just shared that um on April 9th when the board meeting for the Central Texas Water Alliance occurred, Mr. Osbborne uh represented the city very well uh in such that the board overwhelmingly supported our membership

uh on that and thank you for making an appointment to uh that board as well. Studies and committees, there's a few uh I wanted to go through. uh the sports complex feasibility the survey that was public has closed. Uh we do have uh responses on that. Very appreciative of the responses. Uh quick preview overall there is significant support for a sports facility complex in Copper Scope based on that survey data. Uh the report is being drafted and in the coming meetings that city council has a uh presentation will be uh prepared and presented to council. Tax increment reinvestment zone. We are moving forward with that. Uh the status that we're in is we have spoken with Corell County uh commissioners court. We have also spoken with the Central Texas College and we will likely move forward with preparation of the ordinance, publication of the required notices and ask city council to move forward with establishing the TUR program. Corel County and CTC will likely join us after we have started the program which means we will also need to bring back participation agreements with city council as each of those entities come on uh Lampasses County we will continue to work on communicating with and educating uh to see if they are also interested in joining impact fee study is ongoing and so no other report on that at this point. Parkland dedication ordinance. The quality of life committee representatives as well as the subdivision technical advisory count committee representatives have met. They are coming to a unified recommendation. I hope it's hasn't been solidified yet. That's why it hasn't been presented to

the council yet. But I think we are moving in that direction. And then the uh railroad crossing study uh you have selected a consultant to help with that. I will say that uh the consultant that we have on board is doing a really phenomenal job. Now we just started. We haven't gotten into the meat or the substance of the study yet, but just in the initial process that we are going through, they are doing a really good job for our community and our city. grant statuses. Uh the EDA grant uh we are reviewing the bid package uh with our uh grant representative team and then we will be bidding that out. That is again primarily through the economic development corporation. So uh well done to Mr. Welch and his team. uh OLDCC that study is complete and uh we will provide that study to city council once we receive uh the document. Um again well done to Mr. Welch uh and the consultant that they selected to move that forward. I do know that Mr. Welch has also spoken and shared the study results with garrison command um and uh the uh leaders on Fort Hood gaining support to move forward with the recommendations within that plan. Uh the DIP grant uh work is progressing and we continue to work with G grant representatives on that project. Um again and all three of these that I just mentioned are brand new to uh Copper Scope. Uh so there are some new things that we are working through and the grant representatives uh the granting agencies uh the projects that we are doing are new to those granting agencies. So we're both in kind of a learning process as we work through

compliance on the grant and actually executing the projects. Uh KTMO and DAG I have no significant updates. And then the rce I already which is the railroad crossing elimination grant. I already provided you an update uh in the uh studies and committee section. Mayor, that completes my report and I'll take any questions or comments from the council. Council, any questions for Ryan? Okay. Thank you, Ryan. Comprehensive report items for future agendas. None for me, Mr. Mayor, none for me, sir. No, Mr. Mayor. Nothing, Mr. Mayor.

No items for a future agenda. Okay. All right. We do have two executive session items. Item one, pursuant to section 551.087, the Texas Government Code. City Council will meet in executive session for deliberation regarding the offer of a financial or other incentive to a business prospect referenced as Project Hometown Hero. Item two, discussion of personnel matters pursuant to chapter 551.074 of the Texas Government Code regarding the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal of a public officer or employee. City Manager Ryan Havlaw.

All right, the time is 7:14. We journ into executive session. The time is 7:40 p.m. We reconvene into open session for any possible action resulting from any items posted and legally discussed in executive session. Council, is there any action to be taken?

Mr. Mayor. Yes. I would like to make a motion that we approve the city manager's evaluation. Second. Motion motion made by Mr. Smith. Second by Mr. Treadway. He beat you over there. Any other discussion? All those in favor say I. Any oppose? Motion carries. There are no further business. So at 7:41 we stand adjourned.